This invention relates in general to assembly fixtures and more particularly to an apparatus for aligning golf club grips during the assembly process.
Most, if not all golf club grips are molded with a perceptible ridge running longitudinally of the grip and that ridge is provided to help a golfer line up the club in preparation for hitting a golf ball. When a right handed golfer wraps his left hand around the golf club, a crease will be formed across the aligned knuckles of the fingers of his or her folded hand and the ridge of the golf club grip will nestle into the crease. When such a relationship between the ridge and the golfers hand exists, and other variables such as the golfers stance are proper, the face of the golf club should be lined up in a perpendicular attitude relative to the intended flight path of the golf ball. In order for such alignment of the golf club face to occur, the golf club grip must be installed on the shaft of the club in a correct manner. The ridge provided on the grip must face the ground and lie in a plane perpendicular to the ground when the club is held in the ball addressing position and that plane must be parallel to the leading edge formed at the intersection of the club face and the sole of the club. Another way of saying this is that when the club is being held in the address position, the ridge of the grip must be on the underside of the golf club shaft and both the ridge and the leading edge of the golf club must be perpendicular to the intended flight path of the golf ball. If the golf club grip is improperly installed, even if it is only off a few degrees, the club will be gripped in an open or closed attitude and the golfer may not even be aware of such a condition.
To assist the grip installer, most grips are provided with a small alignment mark or marks on the side of the grip which is diametrically opposed to the ridge. The installer visually aligns the alignment mark with the leading edge of the golf club face while installing the grip and since the alignment mark and the leading edge are quite a distance apart, mis-aligned grip installation can and often does occur.
A grip alignment mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,815 issued to Karner et al. Among the shortcomings of this prior art mechanism is the use of a device which includes a spaced pair of vertically aligned pair of rails to define the alignment position of the golf club upon which a grip is to be installed. When installing a grip, the operator of the mechanism places the club in the mechanism and rotates it about its shaft axis to bring the leading edge of the club head into engagement with the vertical plane defined by the pair of rails. When aligned in this manner, the operator then actuates a clamp which holds the club, and a laser beam is used to provide alignment indicia to guide the operator in installation of the grip. Because golf clubs have different off-sets, as will hereinafter be described in detail, the device on which the pair of rails are mounted is movable and the entire device will automatically move when contacted by the leading edge of the club head. Such movement will occur during rotational movement of the golf club prior to the leading edge of the head coming into contact with both of the rails and can continue if the club is rotated beyond the essential vertical positioning of the leading edge of the club head. This prior art device is not provided with a golf club head positioning capability and therefore relies solely on the skill and attentiveness of the operator.
Therefore, a need exist for a new and useful golf club grip installation apparatus which overcomes some of the installation problems and the shortcomings of the prior art.
In accordance with the present invention, a new and useful apparatus is disclosed for aiding an installer in positioning a golf club grip in a properly aligned position on the shaft of a golf club.
The apparatus includes a holding mechanism having two separate clamps for receiving and holding a golf club during the alignment and grip installation process. The first clamp is a hosel clamp and the second is a shaft clamp with these clamps being spaced apart and in alignment with each other. When the clamps of the golf club holding mechanism are in the unclamped state and a golf club to be gripped is placed therein, the alignment process is started by rotating the golf club about the longitudinal axis of its shaft to bring the leading edge, formed at the intersection of the face and the sole of the club head, into a vertical position. Rotation of the golf club into the vertically disposed position may be done by hand, however use of a golf club positioning device is preferred . The disclosed golf club positioning device is actuated when the grip installer depresses a clamp switch provided on the panel of a control circuit and holds it in the depressed position. The club positioning device will then move into engagement with the golf club head to rotate the club into the desired vertical position.
An electromechanical golf club position indicator is provided for sensing when the golf club being rotated reaches the vertical position and when this condition is sensed, the position indicator produces a signal to automatically energize the hosel clamp and the shaft clamp of the golf club holding mechanism and de-energize the golf club positioning device.
In addition to the above described golf club holding mechanism, the positioning device and the position indicator, the apparatus of the present invention further includes a grip aligner which is an elongated structure that extends from proximate the head of a golf club held by the holding mechanism to proximate the extending end of the golf club shaft. The aligner is positioned and configured to provide the installer with a visual indication of the proper alignment position for the grip. The grip aligner can be adjusted for custom grip installations wherein the grip can be installed in a selected one of a plurality incrementally rotated positions on the club shaft so that a golfer will hold the club in a desired open or closed position.
The hereinbefore mentioned control circuit is provided so that the installer is able to control the functions of the grip alignment apparatus and monitor the status of the automatic operations thereof. With the golf club firmly held by the hosel and shaft clamps and the grip aligner mechanism indicating the desired grip alignment position, the installer can precisely align and install the grip on the shaft of the club.